solid-state drive

Now that I have convinced you that solid-state drives (SSDs) are the way to go for a computer's main storage, the question is which one you should get.

While SSDs are all very expensive, depending on the features, capacities, and interfaces, their prices vary considerably. If your computer only supports the SATA 2 (3Gbps) standard, which is currently the most popular on any type of computer, an SSD of this standard like the Samsung 470 would be a good investment.

On the other hand, if your computer supports SATA 3 (6Gbps) or you want to get a "futureproof&… Read more

When it comes to 2.5-inch SATA solid-state drives (SSDs), prices are so high that so far it only makes sense to buy those with lower capacities, 256GB or less. However, with OWC's new series of Mercury Extreme Pro 6G drives, it seems you only get a good deal when you buy the top capacity.

The drive's 480GB version gives you the most storage for your money, at just $1,280. If you think that's still high (and you're right!), look at the prices of some competing products; the 480GB OCZ Vertex 3, for example, costs … Read more

While traditional hard drives are made by just a few companies, such as Western Digital and Seagate, solid-state drives (SSDs)--which are based on a completely different technology similar to that of system memory--are made by a much larger crowd of vendors. And today Other World Computing introduced its own SATA 3 (6Gbps)-based SSD, the Mercury Extreme Pro 6G.

Like other SSDs on the market, such as the OCZ Vertex 3, or the Plextor PX-256M2S, the OWC drive is the same shape as a traditional 2.5-inch SATA laptop drive. This means it will work virtually anywhere a traditional … Read more

Intel has added two years to the warranty on its 320 series of solid-state drives because it is confident in their reliability.

The boost in warranty from three to five years was announced Friday. It covers consumer-level use of the drives, which is up to 20 gigabytes of writes per day. Caveats apply to enterprise-level usage, typically in high input/output environments such as data centers.

"Expanding [the warranty] from three to five years on its latest product, the 320, is important," said Joseph Unsworth, a research director at Gartner. "This is a testimonial to the fact … Read more

Flash memory maker SanDisk is acquiring SSD developer Pliant Technology for $327 million in cash and certain stock-based incentives.

Announced by SanDisk today, the deal has already been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close by the end of SanDisk's second fiscal quarter in June, pending the usual regulatory reviews.

Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Pliant Technology sells flash-based SSDs (solid-states drives) specifically for the enterprise market. As such, the drives are designed to deliver high performance and reliability for use in data centers and similar environments.

"Flash memory is making significant inroads into … Read more

You love the OCZ Vertex 3 solid-state drive but can't afford it? Well, there are now more affordable choices from the same company.

OCZ announced today that it's now shipping new SSDs that offer an "outstanding balance of performance and value," the Agility 3 and Solid 3.

Like the Vertex 3, the two new drives support the latest SATA 3 standard (6Gbps) and, according to OCZ, feature the SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor and will significantly outperform traditional hard drives as well as SATA 2 (3Gbps) SSDs.

The new drives come in the 2.5-inch (laptop) design … Read more

To say that high-capacity solid-state drives are getting inexpensive may be a bit premature considering you could purchase an entire MacBook Air for the price of a high-capacity SSD. That said, it could be a lot worse.

Lexar Media, an arm of solid-state drive manufacturer Micron Technology, said today that Crucial-branded m4 SSDs are now available worldwide, coming in capacities of 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.

The 512GB model is $999--the cost of a low-end 11.6-inch Air. Now, that may seem pricey but let's not forget the good old days when high-capacity SSDs were priced in the exosphere, … Read more

If you can't decide whether to get the Samsung 470 solid-state drive because it's so expensive, there's now another one that's even more tempting--the Vertex 3 from OCZ.

At around $500 for 240GB, the OCZ SSD isn't any cheaper, but it is much faster than the Samsung 470 and supports the new SATA 6Gbps standard (SATA 3). Most existing computers, however, support the popular SATA 3Gbps (SATA 2), which has data cap speeds of close to 300MBps.

SATA 3, available in computers powered by Intel's new Sandy Bridge chipset, on the other hand, offers twice that speed. And the Vertex 3 delivered in our testing, emerging as one of the fastest internal drives on the market.

Sharing the same design as a standard 9.5-millimeter, 2.5-inch internal hard drive, the Vertex 3 also includes a drive bay converter that helps it take the place of any 3.5-inch hard drive. This means it will work in any case where a traditional SATA hard drive, be it a 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch, would be used.

The OCZ Vertex 3 is also available in 120GB and 480GB capacities. The former costs around $250, and the latter is outrageously priced at more than $1,800.

To see if the drive is worth the investment, check out CNET's full review.… Read more

When upgrading from a spinning hard disk to a solid-state disk in your Mac, you may experience slower startup times than expected. Solid-state drives should be booting your system in 15 seconds or less--a considerable upgrade from traditional hard disks--but failing to set your newly installed drive as the default startup disk can keep your boot times slow.

Apple Discussions commenter "Luis Ortega" writes:

I just installed a 256gb ssd drive (from OWC) into my 2007 Santa Rosa 2.4 core 2 duo 17" macbook pro.

I had done a clone from my old hard drive (7200rpm … Read more